VINSIGHTS

A staff training infographic worth 1,000 words

by MARNIE OLD

There is no better grape to study when learning about grape genetics than pinot noir, since it appears in the family tree of many other important grape varieties. It is a parent to chardonnay and gamay, a grandparent of sauvignon blanc and chenin blanc, and a great grandparent of cabernet sauvignon and syrah. Meanwhile, its closest relations— like pinot gris, pinot blanc and pinot meunier— are not truly grape varieties in the formal sense of the term; they are technically clones of pinot noir that have recognizably different traits.

SPECIES: Almost all wine grapes belong to the European species vitis vinifera. The rest are vinifera hybrids.

VARIETY: A new“ variety” is created every time a vine is grown from a seed. This is also the only way new varieties occur. When the flower of one vine is fertilized by the pollen of another, the resulting seed contains DNA from both parents. Every single seed will be different, each representing its own new variety with its own distinct traits, even if they share the same parentage. Like two siblings who share the same DNA sources, each will have their own distinct blend of genes. This can result in a family resemblance, but lots of differences too.

CLONE: What complicates matters is that domesticated grapevines are not grown from seeds— they are reproduced via“ clonal selection.” Growers select a vine with desirable traits, snip off vine cuttings and plant them, creating multiple genetically identical vines, or“ clones.” Clones that are propagated this way, over and over, accumulate spontaneous mutations in their DNA. Most of these genetic differences are subtle enough that the clones are simply considered variants of the main variety, such as the pinot noir’ s many Dijon clones. When these differences are striking though— like the different skin colors found in pinot gris and pinot blanc— some clones can be recognized as distinct, propagated and cultivated as if they were truly new varieties.

HYBRID vs. CROSSING: Most famous grape varieties arose through natural fertilization, but some were products of breeding by humans. If the parents of a newly bred grape variety are from different grapevine species, then it is considered to be a“ hybrid,” as with the many non-vinifera grapes bred for challenging climates like vidal and chambourcin. If both parents are of the same species though, then the new variety is called a“ crossing,” not a hybrid. For example, pinotage is a vinifera crossing whose parents are pinot noir and cinsault.

MOST PINOT NOIR DESCENDANTS ARE“ VARIETIES”…

PINOT NOIR

GOUAIS BLANC

CHARDONNAY

GAMAY

For example, chardonnay and gamay are vinifera varieties that arose from natural fertilization and share the same parents— pinot noir and gouais blanc. However, they could not be more different.

… BUT SOME PINOT NOIR DESCENDANTS ARE“ CLONES” The color differences between the original pinot noir variety and its clones, pinot gris and pinot blanc, derive from mutations in the two genes that control skin color in grapes. Pinot noir has two cell layers that contain dark anthocyanin. Pinot gris has only one

PINOT NOIR and pinot blanc has none. Besides similar single-gene mutations here

PINOT GRIS and there, the three clones are otherwise genetically identical.

PINOT BLANC

WHY IS PINOT NOIR GENETICALLY RELATED TO SO MANY OTHER GRAPES? In any grape variety, three factors affect the degree of genetic variation to be found: how long that variety has been grown, how much of it has been planted and whether or not people find it desirable enough to propagate its mutations. Pinot noir scores high on all counts, since it has unusually ancient origins and makes uncommonly good wine. We may know it today as the red grape of Burgundy, where fine wine as we know it was born in medieval France, but genomic analysis confirms that pinot noir has been cultivated for roughly 2,000 years. A similar Burgundian vine was described favorably by the Romans in the first century A. D. and it’ s even possible that one of pinot noir’ s parents may have been from the wild vitis sylvestris species.

Marnie Old is one of the country’ s leading wine educators and content marketers. Formerly the director of wine studies for Manhattan’ s French Culinary Institute, she is best known for her visually engaging books published by DK such as Wine: A Tasting Course and her popular Wine Simplified series of wine tutorials on YouTube.

8 Beverage Dynamics • Winter 2025 www. beveragedynamics. com